About City Forward
City Forward is a free, web-based platform that enables users – city officials, researchers, academics and interested citizens world-wide – to view and interact with city data while engaging in an ongoing public dialogue.
By using City Forward’s straightforward exploration tools, you can identify patterns, trends and correlations in the data that may reveal new insights and point to new areas of interest for further investigation. These explorations can then be shared and discussed within the City Forward Community and beyond – wherever people gather to exchange ideas about cities.
Project details
City Forward is a philanthropic donation of services and technology from IBM, which applies expertise and technologies to offer insight into specific metropolitan issues. In addition to City Forward, IBM has inaugurated Smarter Cities Challenge, a competitive grant program that will help 100 cities across the globe.
IBM recognizes the value of building a smarter planet, starting with building smarter cities. The future of our cities depends upon the boundless energy and insights made possible when people work towards common goals and understanding. City Forward helps do just that by enabling a greater understanding of the challenges our cities are facing.
About the Data
The data for City Forward is collected from numerous sources and is dependent on the availability of public data. City Forward data features metropolitan areas, cities and smaller geographic areas varying in size, development phase and location.
City Forward is excited about the data we’ve collected so far, but it is just the beginning. We envision City Forward growing to include data for more cities and metropolitan areas, expanded time spans and additional subjects. Go to the City Forward Data Catalog to view the data that is currently available. We are always looking for help in identifying the best data sources. If you are aware of publicly available data sources, preferably in a machine readable format, that are not currently available on City Forward, please contact us.
Press Kit
The City Forward press kit provides basic information for media interested in the latest information about the project. For additional information please contact us.
To download these materials, right-click any link and save them to your computer.
City Forward Overview (PDF)
City Forward Technology Overview (PDF)
Frequently Asked Questions (PDF)
City Forward Project Images (Zip)
City Forward Logos (Zip)